Investigation of the effect of diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid chelating agent as an enhanced oil recovery fluid on wettability alteration of sandstone rocks

Abstract

This study used the diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA)-seawater (SW) system to modify the sandstone rock wettability and enhance oil recovery. The investigation involved conducting wettability measurement, Zeta potential measurement, and spontaneous imbibition experiment. The introduction of 5% DTPA-SW solution resulted in a significant decrease in the rock-oil contact angle from 143° to 23°, along with a reduction in the Zeta potential from −2.29 mV to −13.06 mV, thereby altering the rock surface charge and shifting its wettability from an oil-wet state to a strongly water-wet state. The presence or absence of potential determining ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42−) in the solution did not impact the effectiveness of DTPA in changing the rock wettability. However, by tripling the concentration of these ions in the solution, the performance of 5% DTPA-SW solution in changing wettability was impaired. Additionally, spontaneous imbibition tests demonstrated that the 5% DTPA-SW solution led to an increase in oil recovery up to 39.6%. Thus, the optimum mass fraction of DTPA for changing sandstone wettability was determined to be 5%.

Keywords

• wettability alteration
• DTPA chelating agent
• Zeta potential
• spontaneous imbibition
• enhanced oil recovery